Episode Ten: A Tale of Two Gym Battles
shot541.png|KoopaKidJr, at her best. Still using 1000% throttle, so the screencaps get a little shaky, if I remember correctly. shot542.png|I can't remember what level this is...32, I think. shot543.png|So yeah, I figure I would talk about the process of making this Nuzlocke. Usually, I take an episode's worth of screenshots in advance. During training, I up the frame rate and the throttle, so that training takes less time. I usually cut out any part of the battle that isn't significant. Meaning, I usually leave in the beginning, the level ups, deaths, and victories. shot544.png|After taking a screenshot using the Prt Scrn button on my keyboard, I paste that image into a paint document. From there, I save it as "shot" followed by it's code number. In simpler terms, I save the 531st screenshot as "shot531". shot545.png|So far, in 600 screenshots, I've only messed once on the numbering. I think it was somewhere back in either the 2-300's, and I managed to go back and fix it, by naming a later screenshot as the missing number. It's out of order, but all numbers from 1-600 are accounted for. shot546.png|Typically, on weekdays, I play for about an hour or so each night. However, on weekends, I can play anywhere form three to four hours, since I'm generally here by myself. While playing, I almost always listen to music, and usually have something to eat. shot547.png|Here I've decided to store Trey and Zinc, since the team has too many Normal types. Anyway, while playing, I make sure to save frequently. Twice, after something important, like a gym badge or an evolution. shot548.png|In this episode, I actually fight two gyms, to make up for all of the filler shots in the last couple of episodes. I also show more of each battle, as a special treat. shot549.png|Here I decided to go back and get Cupcake from the daycare, since the daycare gets expensive after a while. He was level six when I dropped him off, and now he's on par with the team. If Webly dies, I may go back and get Cupcake, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. shot550.png|What do I listen to, when I play? Well, lately I've been listening to Johnny Cash, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, NWA, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I choose songs that help set the mood, for what I'm doing, whether it be training or battling. I find that it enhances the experience of the game, and keeps in interesting. shot551.png|Lately I've been considering turning this into a hobby. Though, after this season, I'll probably just nickname everyone whatever I feel like, as opposed to after users. If I do another season, it'll likely be FireRed. shot552.png|Hardest loss, up until now? I think I would have to say...either Bocaj, JLOM, or Fan. Jessica and Kevvy were tough losses, but I feel like they were supporting players, and only occasionally got spotlight. shot553.png|If you enlarge the shot, you can see my task bar. On that task bar, is the VisualBoyAdvance, Paint, and three internet tabs, I believe. While playing, I like to have tabs open, so that I can break every once in a while. Two of those tabs are this wiki, and youtube. The third is probably either the TDIFF wiki, or facebook. If it's not facebook, it was probably either flocabulary or bitstrips. For those of you who don't know, flocabulary is a website that has "The Week in Rap", where it tells the news in rap. I just discovered it, because we used it in school. Bitstrips in a website that lets you to create your own comic strips. I was probably reading "I Heart College', which is my favorite series, there. I do have my own account, and my own strips, but they're pretty bad. I haven't made one in almost a year, but I may take another shot at it. shot554.png|I usually try to think of captions while taking the screenshot, but that usually doesn't work well, since I take these sometimes hours in advance. shot555.png|Again, enlarging the screenshot will allow you to see what time it was, when I took the screenshot. This one is about three hours old, compared to when I'm posting it. shot556.png|A gym leader I'm worried about? Clair. She uses Dragon-types, which are statistically the strongest type, overall. They're only weak to ice and dragon type moves, and Koopa is the only one who knows a dragon type move. No one knows any ice moves. There is a chance coming up for me to obtain and Ice-type, though. shot557.png|It's usually pretty easy to come up with captions. I usually just comment on whatever is going on in the shot, if I can't think of anything else to say. Sometimes, it does get pretty difficult to keep the captions entertaining. I can't remember which one, but there was a fairly early episode where I completely blanked on what to say, caption wise. shot558.png|If I do create a second season, I'll definitely be picking Squirtle, just so everyone knows ahead of time. Squirtle is my bro. shot559.png|Now, this gym battle was pretty easy, mostly because I was laughably overleveled for this fight. Never hurts to be prepared, right? When I first got into Pokemon, I was usually underleveled, because I avoided wild Pokemon and trainers, if I could. Now, I'm generally on par with the gym leader's highest level, before I enter the gym. shot560.png|Favorite types? Hmm, Fighting. Flying. Ice. I like Fighting, because it is the strongest offensive type, tied with Ground. Flying is cool, because I like birds and stuff like that. Ice is my favorite element, so naturally Ice would be one of my favorite types. shot561.png|Least favorite types? Hmm...Psychic and Bug. There are some really cool Bug types, like Scyther/Scizor, Heracross, ect, but they're pretty much the weakest type. Psychic...I dunno, I just think most Psychic types are lame. I do like a few, like Alakazam, Hypno, Gardevoir, and Mewtwo. shot562.png|Favorite gym leaders? Okay, from Gen 1-5, Lt. Surge, Giovanni, Falkner, Morty, Clair, Juan...I don't really like any from Gen 4, Elesa and Clay. shot563.png|Least favorite gym leaders...Koga, Bugsy, WHITNEY, Watson, Roark, and the brothers, Chili, Cilan and Cress. shot564.png|Pokemon-wise, my favorite generations are 1 and 5. Then 3, then 2...and 4, in dead last. shot565.png|So, if any of you were thinking about doing a Nuzlocke, or are doing one, I would suggest that you grind your Pokemon, frequently. For those who are unfamiliar with metagame terms, "grind" means intense training. It probably comes from the saying, "put your nose to the grindstone". Also, keep plenty of Antidotes on hand. Poisoning is a leading cause of death, among Nuzlockers. Also, remember, you are NOT allowed to use Revives. If your Pokemon faints, game over. Revives are not allowed. Train your Pokemon equally. Train them often. Train them well. shot566.png|You're also going to need to create a strategy that works for you. You'll need to base in on whatever team you have, and make that strategy flexible, to allow for new teammates, and the death of old ones. I guess, currently, this is a "sweeper" team. Basically, a Sweeper is a Pokemon with high speed and the ability to use high-powered attacks, based on knocking out your opponent's team before they have a chance to strike back. shot567.png|Everyone on the team is also pretty Bulky, meaning they have high defenses. "Walling" means that your Pokemon can absorb damage well, and stall the other team. Common walls include Snorlax and Blissey. No one on my team is really a great wall in the strictest sense, but they're still pretty good. shot568.png|Try to balance your physical attackers and your special attackers, if at all possible. A physical attacker uses moves that apply the "attack" stat. Special attackers use moves that apply the "special attack" stat. In the first three generations, all seventeen types were split into either "physcial" or "special", meaning every move from that type would be special if the type was in the "special" category. shot569.png|The "physical" types were Steel, Ground, Poison, Rock, Flying, Normal, Bug, Ghost and Fighting. shot570.png|The "special" types were Dark, Grass, Fire, Electric, Water, Ice, Dragon, and Psychic. In generation four, moves were retyped into either "physical" or "special" based not on their elemental type, but on if the move made physical contact with the opponent, or not. This means there are now Fire moves that are "physical", and Fighting moves that are "special". shot571.png|The defense stats are pretty simple to figure out, now that the attacks stats have been explained. Defense is how well your Pokemon takes damage from physical hits, and Special Defense does the same, but for special attacks. Speed determines which Pokemon attacks first. shot572.png|This Steelix actually gave me a bit of trouble, as it got a critical hit with Iron Tail. Also, a critical hit happens fairly infrequently. Critical hits do twice the damage a regular hit would, and is another leading cause of death in Nuzlockes. shot573.png|Yeah, this Steelix was tougher than I thought. Machoke Man has the type advantage, but Steelix's defense is so high, that it almost doesn't matter. shot574.png|Oh, and I did figure out how to record a video with sound, so who knows? Season two might actually have my voice shot575.png|See, I was starting to get cocky here, because Iron Tail misses, and I figured Machoke Man could finish him off, with another Kar-ah-tay Chop. shot576.png|See, it missed. Good, right? shot577.png|Every thing is going my way, right? Steelix only has a small sliver of health left, right? shot578.png|But then, Steelix gets a critical hit Iron Tail that also lowers Machoke Man's defense. But it's okay, because Machoke Man is faster and can win with one more hit, right? shot579.png|Wroooooong. shot580.png|I got a critical hit, too. However, Karate Chop wouldn't be strong enought to finish Steelix off unless it got another critical hit. Even though it has an increased crit ratio, I don't like those odds. shot581.png|Switching to Koopa. shot582.png|Koopa is part Water, so she resists Steel-type attacks. Steelix is partially weak to Water, so you probably know what happens in the next screenshot. shot583.png|Surf's up, you big fat rock snake. shot584.png|Don't mess with Team Unstoppable. shot585.png|I decided to let Machoke Man finish the last one off. Nothing could go wrong, right? shot586.png|Right. shot587.png|I know. That's why I'm the Brandon, and you're not. shot588.png|Sounds crunchy. shot589.png|Iron Tail. Should I try and teach it to someone, or wait? shot590.png|New route. I used Fly to jet back to Ecruteak. shot591.png|Again, terrible surfing conditions. shot592.png|Hey, Shane :P shot593.png|Not so golden now, are you? shot594.png|He's our highest level, I believe. shot595.png|New town. New People. New teammate? shot596.png|We'll see... shot597.png|Nope, guess not. It was another Normal type, anyway. shot598.png|Despite escaping your cage, you're still just a Lake of Rage. shot599.png|Gyarados vs. Gyarados. Red vs. Blue. Good vs. Evil. Normal vs. Shiny. Brandon vs. Someone. The eternal struggle. shot600.png|I love you, Lance :O